Millard Fillmore, 13th President Of The United States

As a Whig, Fillmore was the last President not to be affiliated with either of the current major U.S. political parties.

A younger Fillmore at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.

US Presidents

Since the ratification of the Constitution, US have been served by a total of 43 presidents. The current President, Barrack Obama, is the 44th president and also the first African-American president. The constitution allows one to serve for a maximum of two terms of four years each, and must have attained the age of 35 and lived in the US for at least 14 years. He/she must also be of US natural born. If a president dies while in office, resigns or becomes incapacitated therefore not able to continue with his duties the vice president automatically assumes office. US presidential election is constitutionally scheduled to take place on the second Tuesday of November 2016. The US has had some of the famous men, among them, is Millard Fillmore.

Millard Fillmore’s Early Life

Millard was born on January 7th, 1800 in Monrovia, Cayuga County. He was the eldest son and second born in a family of eleven. He was named after his mother, Phoebe Millard. His father Nathaniel Fillmore apprenticed him into cloth making in his early life. He struggled for education joining New Hope Academy in 1819 where he met Abigail Powers, who became his wife when they got married in February 1826. They got a boy and a girl, Millard, and Mary. He was admitted to the bar in 1823 after studying law and practiced in New York. In 1834 he founded the now Hodgson Russ LLP formerly known as Fillmore and Hall through a partnership with his friend Nathan Hall. In 1846 he helped found the now State University of New York at Buffalo formerly known as the private University of Buffalo

Political life of Millard Fillmore

On the anti-Masonic ticket, Mallard was elected into New York State Assembly in 1828 where he served three terms of one year each. In his final term in 1831, he was elected the chairperson of special legislative committee that was mandated with enacting bankruptcy law. He served in the 23rd Congress after being elected a US Representative in 1832. He served as a Whig from 1837 to 1843 having been elected in 1836. In 1848 Whig National Convection nominated Mallard as Zachary Taylor’s running mate for the 1849 presidential election which they won with a majority of votes. During this time, the Anti-slavery movement was gaining momentum with demands that all territories of the US be opened for new slaves. On July 9, 1850, Mallard become the president upon the death of Taylor becoming the last Whig president and also the last president not associated with either Republican or Democrats. He was an anti-slavery president who opposed any exclusion of slaves in any territory gained in the Mexican War.

Legacy Of Millard Fillmore

Millard’s popularity among the Whig, especially in the north, was diminishing because of signing into law the Fugitive Slave Act. In 1852 he sought for presidential nominations during the Whig National Convention but lost to Winfield Scott, who was defeated by Democrat candidate Franklin Pierce Millard completed his term on March 4, 1853, and was succeeded by Pierce as the 14th president of US. Mallard died on March 8, 1874, from the after effect of stroke